Mar. 24th, 2017

Mar. 24th, 2017

The Get Up-and-over Fan Fund is designed to promote connections between fandoms in Australasia and Europe. This year GUFF will send one delegate from Australiasia to Worldcon in Helsinki in August. Voting is open to all interested fans, regardless of nationality. It closes 17 April.

Deciding how to rank the candidates can be a pretty daunting prospect, so over the next few weeks Earl Grey Editing will be featuring an interview with each candidate. So far I’ve interviewed Belle McQuattie, Donna Maree Hanson and Sam Hawke. Joining me today is Alexandra Pierce.

First and most vital: What’s your favourite beverage?

My favourite hot beverage is black tea; I go in for flavoured ones like Earl Grey or some of the fruity ones from T2. Cold well, I have a weakness for elderflower cordial and New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Of course.

Yum. Elderflower cordial with tonic water is one of my Christmas traditions.

Oh nice! I have Plans to investigate elderflower as an ingredient.

How did you come to be involved in Australian SFF fandom?

Through Alisa Krasnostein! A friend got me reading the Aussie magazine Andromeda Spaceways; Alisa was interviewed and said she was looking for reviewers for her review site at the time (Australian Spec Fic in Focus), I emailed her and then all of sudden I was going to cons and the rest of it.

You host a feminist SFF podcast called Galactic Suburbia with Alisa Krasnostein and Tansy Rayner Roberts. Your seventh anniversary was earlier this month. What has been the most memorable part of the podcast for you?

Whoa seven years. Thats amazing. At the Australian Worldcon in 2010, we were at the Hugos ceremony and someone behind us said “Hey, listening to you two is like being on my commute!” We love feedback and feeling like part of a community. Also, winning a Hugo Award was pretty memorable. Plus, I get a regular date with two awesome women. Weve talked about some amazing stuff.

Winning a Hugo Award is definitely something that’s going to stick in the memory.

I was watching the live stream. It cut out as they said our name and then our acceptor was on the stage. I cried.

In addition to the GS podcast, you also teach, review books, write a column for Tor.com, and run a couple of blogs, as well as another podcast (on cooking). Have I missed anything? How do you manage to juggle it all? Do you have any tips on how to steal a TARDIS?

Uh yeh ok, when you put it like that it sounds like I do a lot! I also cook and occasionally do house work; I try to get away for astronomy occasionally, too. How do I fit it all in? Well, I dont have kids or pets. That certainly helps. I also work part time as a teacher and have done for a while, which gives more time not only during the week but also at night and on weekends when otherwise I would be planning or marking. I dont always manage to juggle everything – sometimes I drop balls all over the place. I guess I keep doing the things Im doing because theyre all things I WANT to be doing, so doing them is (usually) enjoyable. That definitely helps. As for using a TARDIS I think of Hermione and her time-turner and I think that would be a very bad idea. Id just end up confused.

What’s coming up next for you?

I’m editing a collection of non-fiction in honour of Octavia Butler, which is tremendously exciting; I’ll also be hosting a Facebook book club, on the first Sunday of the month from March to June, on a few of Butler’s books.

I loved Letters to Tiptree, so I’m really looking forward to this new anthology.

Were excited! Its called Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler.

Wow, what a great title!

What are you most looking forward to about Worldcon 75?

Meeting people! At the 2010 Worldcon I was very new to the scene and very shy. I’m still very shy but at least this time I have had contact with people who will be there, so I’ll feel more like I’m *allowed* to talk to them!

Alexandra Pierce reads, teaches, blogs, podcasts, cooks, knits, runs, eats, sleeps, and observes the stars. Not necessarily in that order of priority. She is a Christian, a feminist, and an Australian. She can be found at her website, and on the Hugo-winning Galactic Suburbia podcast.